Sega Mega Drive Mini Delayed Until 2019

Bad news for Sega fans, the Mega Drive Mini that was announced earlier last year has been delayed until next year as stated by a tweet posted by Sega’s Japanese Twitter account. For the uninformed, Sega’s Mega Drive Mini was originally planned to release in Japan exclusively this year. Presumably, the Mega Drive Mini would work similarly to the Genesis Flashback released last year, a miniaturized console compatible with modern televisions with classics of the console built-in.

The good news for Sega fans is that the Mega Drive Mini will also be coming to the United States and Europe as well when it does release next year, thanks to the resoundingly positive response to the announcement of its release. Sega is planning a worldwide launch of the Mega Drive Mini, which will be referred to as the Sega Genesis Mini in the United States. It is not exactly clear when this reportedly planned worldwide launch will occur in 2019, but the reasoning for this delay specifically is “in order to achieve the quality which can satisfy all of Sega fans more” (via Google Translate).

When the Mega Drive Mini was first announced, Sega had stated that they were partnering with AtGames for the console, the company behind the Atari Flashback and the Sega Genesis Flashback, among other throwback retro consoles, having previously worked with Sega numerous times. This statement was met with critique and backlash by fans due to reportedly poor emulation and compatibility issues, alongside a high retail price on release in prior releases by AtGames. Sega has since revealed that they have a new partner for the development of the Mega Drive Mini, stating that “we reviewed the design centering on the original members of MegaDrive and took a system to cooperate with domestic developers with proven software development” (via Google Translate). It is unclear whether or not AtGames is still partnered with Sega due to this new partnership.

While very little has been stated about the new plans in regards to the Mega Drive Mini other than a delay and a new partner, it seems Sega will be focusing on attempting to deliver a product that will better satisfy consumers and meet higher standards.